Andrew Iwach, MD Chair
Contact email: ai@glaucomasf.com
Dr. Iwach currently serves on the Academy's Committee of Secretaries as secretary for communications. Since becoming a fellow of the Academy in 1991, he has been active in many facets of our organization, including volunteering with EyeCare America, being a member on the Medical Information Technology and the Computer-Based Patient Records Activities committees and serving as a media spokesperson. He is currently chief medical editor of Academy Express. In 1994, Dr. Iwach received the Academy's Honor Award and in 2004 he received the Senior Achievement Award.
Dr. Iwach is executive director of the Glaucoma Center of San Francisco. He has been a member on the board of directors for the Glaucoma Research Foundation since 2000 and is currently its secretary of the board. He was appointed chair of the department of ophthalmology at St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center in 1999 and has served as vice chair since 2002. He currently serves as a scientific reviewer for Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Surgery and Lasers and the Journal of Glaucoma.
In addition, Dr. Iwach is an associate clinical professor of ophthalmology in the department of ophthalmology at the University of California San Francisco. He is on the clinical faculty at California Pacific Medical Center. He teaches courses and lectures extensively on glaucoma, having presented more than 300 scientific lectures both nationally and internationally. Dr. Iwach is actively involved in clinical research as well. His research focus has included mitomycin-C use in filtering surgery, application of optical coherence tomography in glaucoma, selective laser trabeculoplasty, numerous drug trials and more. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.
When he’s not working, Dr. Iwach enjoys traveling, mountain biking.
Roger F. Steinert, MD
Contact email: akols@uci.edu
Academic Position:
Irving H. Leopold Professor of Ophthalmology, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California, Irvine
Dr Steinert is currently Chair of the department and Director of the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute at the University of California, Irvine, where he holds joint appointments as the Irving H. Leopold Professor of Ophthalmology and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He combines a consultative practice in cataract, refractive, and corneal surgery with teaching and translational laboratory research in these fields. He has authored or co-authored four textbooks, including the definitive text, Cataract Surgery, which is in its third edition. He has published over 120 peer-review journal scientific articles and over 70 book chapters. Dr. Steinert is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and became President of that society in April 2005, as well as Chair of the Annual Program, a position he currently fills. He serves as Associate Editor of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Journal of Refractive Surgery, and Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers, and Imaging. He has presented 10 named lectureships, including the 2004 Binkhorst Lecture at ASCRS and the 2008 Barraquer Lecture at AAO. Dr. Steinert serves as medical monitor of several FDA trials. He holds seven U.S. and numerous international patents. He has received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and has been selected by his peers for inclusion in every edition of Best Doctors in America and America's Top Doctors. Ophthalmology Times named him one of the top 100 ophthalmologists in North America. Dr. Steinert earned his medical degree and served his residency at Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and rose through the ranks of the Harvard faculty until being recruited to UC Irvine in 2004.
Richard P. Mills, MD
Contact email: rmillswa@comcast.net
Dr. Mills has been an integral part of the American Academy of Ophthalmology leadership for the past two decades, from serving on the Board of Trustees in the 80’s and 90’s to being elected the Academy’s President in 1995. His current role is the Chief Medical Editor of EyeNet Magazine and Chair of the Academy Foundation’s public service project EyeCare America.
He has been Secretary of the American Glaucoma Society, a Director of the American Board of Ophthalmology and delegate to the American Medical Associaion. He is on the governing Council of the American Ophthalmological Society and has served as Vice Chair for the Residency Review Committee for Ophthalmology . He served on the faculty of the University of Washington for over twenty years, becoming Professor and Acting Chair, and was Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Kentucky. He is currently in private glaucoma practice in Seattle.
John W. Kitchens, MD
Contact email: jkitchens@gmail.com
Dr. Kitchens is an ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon with Retina Associates of Kentucky in Lexington. He focuses on the medical and surgical management of diseases of the retina. His interests include angiogenesis, innovations in retinal imaging and ocular trauma. He is also president-elect of the Kentucky Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons and has served as PAC chair and as treasurer for the organization.
Dr. Kitchens is an investigator for multiple clinical trials on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular occlusive disease, ocular histoplasmosis syndrome and visual rehabilitation. He has written papers and given presentations on topics including ocular imaging, macular holes, ocular histoplasmosis, AMD and innovations in surgical techniques and instrumentation.
He is an editor for the website Medrounds and a co-founder of Convene, LLC. Previously, he was the retina section editor for OphthalmologyWeb and co-editor of Ophthalmology Times' Grand Rounds.
Dr. Kitchens won first place in the Bloomberg Resident Cataract Video Competition sponsored by the American College of Eye Surgeons in 2003 and was given the Rhett Buckler Award for outstanding surgical video presentations at the 2008 and 2009 annual meetings of the American Society of Retina Specialists.
